Yelp may have stepped outside of §230’s protection when it made offers to take down negative ratings for firms for a fee. From a distance, this seems less like providing a public bulletin board, and a bit more like a shake-down for brand protection.

Yelp Suit Connects Legal Marketing and Social Media
Of course, such a case requires a blog website where you can “share your Yelp story” and read damning coverage of Yelp’s sales practices before joining the case. It is ironic that plaintiff’s counsel is asking those Yelp has reviewed to now return the favor. And it’s another example of social media getting into legal case generation.

Sue the Funded
At the turn of the year, Yelp was reportedly valued in excess of $500 million in a purchase negotiation with Google. Yelp recently closed a private round of financing. Though the pockets could have been deeper, the defendant is well funded … Although some would say that’s in part through unscrupulous sales practices.

About Dave Wieneke, Digital Strategist

The future of digital experiences will be built by strategists who grasp the full array of emerging business, social, and technical models. Specialties in user experience, branding, application design, and data science are laying the foundation for richer user experiences and business models breakthrough products and revenue based marketing.

UsefulArts is a soapbox to discuss the front line of digital experience, and the agencies and platforms that enable it. Digital business needs a cadre of leaders who can connect c-level enterprise thinking with the ways these new interaction models can help organizations to matter more to their most important stakeholders.